National Institute of Technology Rourkela (NITR), formerly Regional Engineering College Rourkela (REC Rourkela), is a publicly funded premier institute of higher learning for engineering, science and technology located in the steel city of Rourkela, Odisha, India. It is one of the 31 National Institutes of Technology in India and has been recognized as an Institute of National Importance by the National Institutes of Technology Act, 2007. It is ranked 12 in the NIRF Rankings 2017 of Indian engineering universities.

During the Captainship of the Founding Director Prof. Sunil Kumar Sarangi, the institute was transformed to its current status, and now NIT Rourkela is well known for its research related activities in various fields of science and technology.

The institute is managed by a Board of Governors (BoG) created as per NIT Act of 2007. The Act is responsible for the overall superintendence, direction, and control of its affairs. The Director is responsible for managing the day-to-day affairs of the institute, and the director is the Principal Executive and Academic Officer. The BoG is assisted by the Senate, which frames the curriculum and conducts the examinations. The Senate also appoints advisory or expert committees to make recommendations to the BoG on academic matters related to various departments. The Building and Works Committee and the Finance Committee also assist the BoG.

The Institute has different departments, centers and technical service units (TSUs). Each department or centre is headed by a faculty member and each TSU is headed by a faculty member or an officer.[2]

The director is supported in various activities by the deans,[3] i.e. the Dean for Academics, the Dean for Student Welfare, the Dean for faculty welfare, the Dean for Alumni, the Dean for Planning and Development and the Dean for SRICCE (Sponsored Research, Industrial Consultancy, and Continuing Education). The registrar is in charge of all office and staff administration, and has two deputy registrars and six assistant registrars.

Prof. A Biswas's administration revamped Organisation structure and introduced Associate Deans for all Six Deanships to meet dynamic needs of the institute.

The Rourkela Steel City is a medium-sized metropolis, located on the Howrah-Mumbai and Ranchi-Bhubaneswar main railway routes, and well connected to all parts of the country by road and rail. The population of the city is about 7 lakhs. The institute is about 7 km from the railway station. The campus of the institute consisting of the institute buildings, halls of residence and staff colony is situated at the eastern end of Rourkela, beyond Sector-1, on land provided by the Government of Odisha. The institute is bordered by small mountains on the south which are sometimes used as a picnic spot by students.[4]

The closest domestic airport to Rourkela is Ranchi at a distance of 172 kilometers. Rourkela also has a private airport maintained by SAIL which is used only for official purposes.

The campus of the institute is situated at the eastern end of Rourkela steel city, beyond Sector-1, on land provided by the Government of Odisha. The courses are mostly residential on a full-time basis.

The institute area is at the centre of the campus and surrounded by the residential areas. The main building of the institute is in a central area and is surrounded by the departmental buildings. It houses all the classrooms, the Central Library, and the Administrative and Academic sections. It also houses departments like Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Humanities. All the departments, the lecture gallery, the workshops, the institute canteen and the audio-visual hall surround the main building.

The lecture area and the department of biotechnology and medical engineering are situated behind the Department of Chemical Engineering. The new Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering has come up behind the Department of Computer Science. The buildings of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Mining Engineering and Ceramic Engineering have an extension part.

Residential accommodation is provided to all faculty, staff and students. There are ten halls of residence for the students within the campus: seven for male graduates and postgraduates, two for female students and one for married students pursuing doctorate degrees and beyond or full-time research.

The Student Activity Centre (SAC) within the central academic area is the hub of all extra-academic pursuits and is the main organizing office for all student symposiums and annual events. It is served by the approximately 400 seater Bhubaneswar Behera Audio Visual Auditorium and an approximately 1000-seat open air theater. Annually, SAC elections are held at the end of even semesters through online voting.

The institute is served by an on-campus dispensary (Health Centre) and the fully equipped Community Welfare Service (CWS) Hospital for medical treatments. All residential and non-residential students are insured for all medical expenses by the institute.

The student co-operative store facilitates the purchase of books and stationery at reduced prices. The on campus postal service is the state-owned India Post. The official on-campus banker to students and the institute is the state-run State Bank of India (REC Campus).

The Biju Pattanaik Central Library, functional from 1965, was named after Biju Pattanaik, the former chief minister of Odisha. At present, the library holds about 65,000 books and 18,000 back volumes of periodicals. It has purchased a license to access over 2000 online research journals on science and technology to foster local research activity. The BPCL is automated with an integrated library software package called Libsys – LSmart and is modernized with the latest radio frequency identification (RFID)-based automation system that facilitates self check-in, self check-out, and an automatic security system. This technology offers the fastest, easiest, and most efficient way to track, locate and manage library materials. The RFID system counts more than 1.2 lakhs of transactions (issue, return, and renewal) in a year.[5]

Dual degree courses in various disciplines have been introduced recently. The institute provides opportunities for part-time graduate studies in selected fields in addition to doctoral research in various subjects.

The institute also has three academic centres and six service centres.

NIT Rourkela has as many as 40 clubs or student organizations. These clubs span and promote a variety of interests such as technical, cultural, literary, debating, quizzing, sports, and social service among the students, enabling them to explore and enhance their hitherto hidden talents.

NIT Rourkela hosts four major annual events:

Innovision: a technical festival which showcases the technical talents of the students and the practical applications of their learning

Sports Fiesta: in which students from various colleges participate in various sports and games

Nitrutsav: a cultural festival where students from all parts the country participate

CHEMICON: It is a festival organised by chemical department which is started from 2017.

The institute has its own official independent media body with the name Monday Morning. Accredited as the second largest student media body in India, Monday Morning functions to bridge the gap between the administration and the student community. It covers events, seminars, meetings and other day-to-day happening in the campus. the e-newsletter publishes the weekly dose of campus news each Monday Morning. In addition to the e-print the newsletter also publishes two print issues - 1.Mini print issue during the freshers orientation and 2.Annual print issue during the Annual convocation.

The SPIC MACAY NITR Chapter was inaugurated on 12 January 2013 by the founder of SPIC MACAY, Dr. Kiran Seth, in the Bhubaneshwar Behera Auditorium. Since then, some events have been organised under this chapter, such as jugalbandi between Pandit Vijay Ghate and Pandit Bhawani Shankar accompanied by Sangeet Mishra on sarangi, and a performance by Pandit Hari Prasad Chaurasia during the International Students' Meet. The SPIC MACAY NITR Chapter has received an amazing response both by the students as well as the faculty family. During Spic Macay State Convention 2014, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Padmashree Geeta Chandran, and G.S. Chani performed in the BBA Auditorium.

This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability or notability policies. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they are notable AND alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(July 2017)